Massive Cyber-Spying Operation, ‘Shady Rat,’ Revealed: Dozens of government entities, major companies and non-profits were the victims of a massive, years-long cyber-attack effort, according to a study released Wednesday by security firm McAfee.

McAfee

A map from the McAfee report showing locations of hacking victims.

Dubbed “Operation Shady Rat” by the report’s author, Dmitri Alperovitch, the effort took data from groups ranging from the United Nations to media organizations, the government of Taiwan and the International Olympic Committee, the study says.

The targeting of the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency, which were targeted around the 2008 Olympics – “potentially pointed a finger at a state actor behind the intrusions, because there is likely no commercial benefit to be earned from such hacks,” Alperovitch wrote. And it doesn’t take too much reading between the lines to conclude which nation he’s talking about. Vanity Fair, in its scoop on the report, quotes other security experts as saying the signs point to China.

So how does all of this fit in with recent attacks from Anonymous and Lulzsec? “These types of exploitations have occurred relentlessly for at least a half decade, and the majority of the recent disclosures in the last six months have, in fact, been a result of relatively unsophisticated and opportunistic exploitations for the sake of notoriety by loosely organized political hacktivist groups such as Anonymous and Lulzsec,” Alperovitch writes. [McAfee (PDF), Vanity Fair]

Amazon’s Sales Tax Battle: Oh, the lengths Amazon goes to to avoid charging people sales tax. The Wall Street Journal reports on the “extreme measures” the e-commerce giant has taken to avoid local levies – including scrutinizing business travel to certain states where such activity could trigger sales tax requirements.

Credit Suisse recently estimated that if Amazon were forced to collect sales taxes in all states, it would lose as much as $653 million in sales this year, or 1.4% out of an estimated $45.5 billion in revenue, Stu Woo reports. Amazon, for its part, says it focuses on “low prices, vast selection and fast delivery,” not taxes. [WSJ]

Skype Comes to the iPad: Skype, the Internet calling service, just launched its long-awaited app for the iPad. The app supports video and voice calling as well as text messaging. [Skype]

BlackBerry’s New Phones: Early Wednesday, RIM rolled out five new smartphones, including its first all-touch screen phone. It’s part of a delayed effort to reinvigorate its flagging brand and claw back some of the market share it has hemorrhaged in North America, Chip Cummins and Spencer Ante write. [WSJ]